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Saturday, August 27, 2011

Doing What We Don't Want To Do...

Don't you wish it was this easy?!?!

"I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." (Romans 7:15)

Truer words were NEVER spoken, right?!?! At least I've got to confess that they're true in MY life! Often, I know what the right decisions to make are regarding my spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional health. But for some reason, I don't always make those choices. I head down the other path and end up paying the consequences...some of which are pretty costly! I'm guessing that I'm not alone in this. So why do we do it? I've been thinking a lot about that lately. Here's what I've come up with. Feel free to add to the conversation!

We are not totally committed to doing the right things. Sometimes I know that I SAY the right things...and try to make myself and others believe that I really am committed to them, when in reality, I'm not. I used to do that with nutrition and exercise when I was a yo-yo dieter. For a brief time, I'd do what was needed to lose weight like drink water, exercise, lower my calorie intake...and I'd be successful while I was willing to do that. But when I wasn't "feeling it" anymore, I'd go back to how I really wanted to live...sedentary, eating my favorite foods in the quantities I wanted...and the weight came back, and even increased. I've known for nearly my entire adult life how to lose weight and live a healthy life, but it wasn't until 16 months ago that I put my head and my heart behind actually DOING these things...committed everything I have toward being successful.

We really do enjoy choices that are not wise. Ever have a bad habit? This is a perfect example of enjoying something that is harmful. I have several! And sometimes, I enjoy them far too much to challenge myself to move beyond them. Even though I know that some of these bad habits have consequences that I don't want to face, the feeling I get from participating in these habits is good enough that I don't stop myself. Some of these habits affect my physical health...like emotional/binge eating. Others impact my spiritual, emotional, or social health. Regardless of how it impacts us, when we like the "high" we feel from these bad habits, we sometimes forget everything but the moment. We forget...or just don't care...that consequences to our choices will eventually be paid. It's worth it in the moment.

We don't want it bad enough. Motivation is a huge factor in success. It's true in the classroom, and I believe it's true in life. When we really, really want to achieve something, we don't let minor things...or even major things...stand in our way. Conversely, when we don't want to do the right things bad enough in our lives, when we haven't decided in our heads that we WILL be successful no matter what...then we don't have the kind of motivation that's needed to do the right thing regardless of what comes our way. We can be distracted easily and make the wrong choices without a second though at times. And when I say "we" here...I am really speaking of "ME"! Right now, there is nothing I want more than to get rid of this extra weight and the associated knee pain that goes with it. So I work at it hard. But as you know from this blog, it hasn't always been this way...and if that changes somehow, I could easily find myself right back where I started.

There are probably many more reasons that also stand in the way of making the right choices in our lives. But the bottom line for me anyway is how do we change this in ourselves. Because no matter why I don't always make the right choices...the fact is I don't...and that has a huge, negative impact in my life. So how do I fix it?

In my life, I look to God for these kinds of answers. When I began this journey to health, I really thought it was just physical health I needed to focus on. But what I've learned the farther I go in this journey is that physical, social, mental, emotional, and spiritual health are all inseparable in my life. They are intertwined with each other and impact each other. And I suspect that is the same for you, too. When even one of these aspects of health is out of balance, it affects all of the others.

Here's what God says the "fix" is: acknowledge that I can't do this in and of myself, and allow HIM to do the work in and through me.

I'm a human...I think, I feel, I act like every other human. Lacking commitment and motivation and seeking pleasure are nothing new to the human condition. It's in our very nature! But these things are NOT God's nature. And when I involve HIM in the equation, the outcome changes for me. His strength is made perfect in my weakness. And I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me. The Bible promises me those things...and I choose to believe them and do my best to live them out.

So, bottom line for me is this...I am no longer thinking of myself and my health as compartmentalized. My life is not stored in neat little boxes that I can deal with one at a time and put away when I'm done and ready to deal with another part of life. For my physical health to be what I want it to be...for me to reach those goals...I've got to be spiritually and emotionally healthy, too. And I can only do that when I stay connected to my Power Source.

I would love to hear from you on this...how you make yourself do the things you don't want to do...and keep yourself from indulging in the bad choices that you so desperately want. What is it in your life that makes you healthy...helps you make those right choices??? And if you ever want to know more about MY Power Source...where I get my strength, I'd be happy to tell you offline how you can tap into that, too!